Allow hidden and silent observers in a group conversation

ABSTRACT

A method to enable a participant within a plurality of participants in an online group conversation to add at least one additional participant as an observer to the online group conversation is provided. The method may include receiving a request to add the observer to the online group conversation. The method may include adding the observer to the online group conversation. The method may also include detecting a message being sent from the added observer. The method may include redirecting the detected message to the enabled participant. The method may also include displaying the redirected message in a user interface (UI) to the enabled participant. The method may further include detecting a modification or a deletion of the displayed redirected message by the enabled participant. The method may include sending the message to the plurality of participants, whereby the sent message is in an original format or a modified format.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of computers, andmore particularly to online group conversations.

An online group conversation may be based on emails or instant messagingsystems, such as Sametime® (Sametime® and all Sametime®—based trademarksand logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporationand/or its affiliates), Skype® (Skype® and all Skype®-based trademarksand logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Skype TechnologiesS.A. and/or its affiliates), WeChat® (Wechat® and all Wechat®—basedtrademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of TencentHoldings Limited and/or its affiliates). In many cases a participant inthe online conversation may want to include one or more people toobserve the discussion in the conversation in real time, however theparticipant may not want to explicitly add these observers as activeparticipants in the conversation. In such cases, the participant maywant to let the observers know what is going on in the discussion, butdoes not want to expose the identities of the observers, does not wantthe observers to participate in the conversation directly, or simplydoes not want other participants in the conversation to know theseobservers are watching over the discussion.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method to enable a participant within aplurality of participants in an online group conversation to add atleast one additional participant as an observer to the online groupconversation is provided. The method may include receiving a request toadd the observer to the online group conversation. The method may alsoinclude adding the observer to the online group conversation based onthe received request. The method may further include detecting a messagebeing sent from the added observer. The method may include redirectingthe detected message to the enabled participant. The method may alsoinclude displaying the redirected message in a user interface (UI) tothe enabled participant. The method may further include detecting amodification or a deletion of the displayed redirected message by theenabled participant. The method may include sending the displayedredirected message from the enabled participant to the plurality ofparticipants, whereby the sent message is in an original format or amodified format.

According to another embodiment, a computer system to enable aparticipant within a plurality of participants in an online groupconversation to add at least one additional participant as an observerto the online group conversation is provided. The computer system mayinclude one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories,one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, and programinstructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devicesfor execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at leastone of the one or more memories, whereby the computer system is capableof performing a method. The method may include receiving a request toadd the observer to the online group conversation. The method may alsoinclude adding the observer to the online group conversation based onthe received request. The method may further include detecting a messagebeing sent from the added observer. The method may include redirectingthe detected message to the enabled participant. The method may alsoinclude displaying the redirected message in a user interface (UI) tothe enabled participant. The method may further include detecting amodification or a deletion of the displayed redirected message by theenabled participant. The method may include sending the displayedredirected message from the enabled participant to the plurality ofparticipants, whereby the sent message is in an original format or amodified format.

According to yet another embodiment, a computer program product toenable a participant within a plurality of participants in an onlinegroup conversation to add at least one additional participant as anobserver to the online group conversation is provided. The computerprogram product may include one or more computer-readable storagedevices and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or metangible storage devices, the program instructions executable by aprocessor. The computer program product may include program instructionsto receiving a request to add the observer to the online groupconversation. The computer program product may also include programinstructions to add the observer to the online group conversation basedon the received request. The computer program product may furtherinclude program instructions to detect a message being sent from theadded observer. The computer program product may include programinstructions to redirect the detected message to the enabledparticipant. The computer program product may also include programinstructions to display the redirected message in a user interface (UI)to the enabled participant. The computer program product may furtherinclude program instructions to detect a modification or a deletion ofthe displayed redirected message by the enabled participant. Thecomputer program product may include program instructions to send thedisplayed redirected message from the enabled participant to theplurality of participants, whereby the sent message is in an originalformat or a modified format.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings arenot to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating oneskilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction withthe detailed description. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a networked computer environment according to oneembodiment;

FIG. 2 is an operational flowchart illustrating the steps carried out bya program to allow hidden and silent observers in an online groupconversation according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary illustration of an enabler adding an observer toan email discussion thread according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of an observer receiving a forwardedcopy of a message from an email discussion thread according to at leastone embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of internal and external components ofcomputers and servers depicted in FIG. 1 according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an illustrative cloud computing environmentincluding the computer system depicted in FIG. 1, in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of functional layers of the illustrative cloudcomputing environment of FIG. 6, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosedherein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may beembodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the scope of this invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known featuresand techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thepresented embodiments.

Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to the field ofcomputers, and more particularly to online group conversations. Thefollowing described exemplary embodiments provide a system, method andprogram product to, among other things, allow hidden and silentobservers in an online group conversation. Therefore, the presentembodiment has the capacity to improve the technical field of onlinegroup conversations by allowing a participant in an online groupconversation to add hidden or silent observers. More specifically, thepresent embodiment may allow the observer to respond to messages in thegroup conversation, however, only the participant who adds the observerto the online conversation may see the observer's responses.Furthermore, upon receiving the response messages from the observer, theenabler may have the option to pass the response messages from theobserver to other participants in the group conversation as a regularmessage sent from the enabler.

As previously described, a participant in the online conversation maywant to include one or more people to observe the discussion in theconversation in real time, however the participant may not want toexplicitly add these observers as active participants in theconversation. In such cases, the participant may want to let theobservers know what is going on in the discussion, but does not want toexpose the identities of the observers, does not want the observers toparticipate in the conversation directly, or simply does not want otherparticipants in the conversation to know these observers are watchingover the discussion.

For example, an Account manager of a sales team may be having an emaildiscussion with an external customer on some technical issues. TheAccount manager may need the support from two of the Development teammembers to provide technical information and answer technical questions.However, the Account manager does not want to include the twoDevelopment team members in the email discussion with the customer, ashe/she does not want to expose the email addresses of the twodevelopment team members to the customer to avoid the customer frombeing able to contact the two Development team members directly infuture. Also, the Account manager does not want the two development teammembers to provide the technical information directly to the customer,as the Account manager would like to review and filter the informationbefore it reaches the customer.

Another example may be when a manager is having a confidential emailconversation with one of their staff members about a misconductregarding the staff member's work. The case is so serious that theManager may want to keep his/her own manager and the HR manager apprisedof the details of their discussion. However, as the topic is sosensitive, the manager does not want the staff member to know that themanager's manager and the HR manager are watching over their emailconversation at this stage, as that may make the staff member feeluncomfortable and reluctant to talk freely.

Yet another example may be when a senior executive is mentoring a newemployee in a ‘shadow’ program. As such, the senior executive may wantto have the new employee observe how he handles a customer case.Therefore, the senior executive may want to let the new employee see allemail conversations for that customer case, including those emailthreads where the customer is also involved. However, the senior managerdoes not want the new employee to say anything in these emaildiscussion, and the senior manager does not want the customer or otherteam members who are working on the customer case to know that the newemployee is watching over the discussions.

Current solutions may allow the participant in the group conversation to‘forward’ the contents of the discussion to the observers from time totime. With respect to an email conversation, the participant can forwardthe email threads to the observers. Regarding an instant messaging (IM)conversation, the participant can copy and paste the contents of thegroup conversation and send the contents to the observers in IMmessages. However, the participant can only forward the contents atcertain point of the group conversation. As the conversation progresses,the participant will have to forward the contents again to keep theobservers informed about the latest development in the conversation.This method may be cumbersome since the participant has to periodicallysend these additional ‘forwarded’ messages. Additionally, there is thepotential for delay in letting the observers know about the latestconversation.

Another current solution is a sender of an email can include somerecipients in the ‘blind carbon copy’ (bcc) field. If the participant ofthe email conversation includes the observers in the bcc field in amessage, the observers can receive that particular message, while otherrecipients (in the ‘to’ and ‘cc’ fields) do not know that theseobservers also receive a copy of the message. However, when other normalrecipients reply that particular message, the observers who have beenblind carbon copied will not get the replies. As the email conservationcontinues, the observers are ‘disconnected’ unless the participantincludes them in the bcc field again in one of the messages in the emailconversation. Moreover, there is the danger that an observer, who hasbeen blind carbon copied in one of the email messages, accidentallyreplies to the message. In that case, the fact that he/she has beenblind carbon copied will be exposed to other participants in the emaildiscussion.

Furthermore, it is common that customer support teams have a genericemail address for external customers (e.g. support@abc.com). As such,all messages sent to this address may be forwarded to a number ofinternal customer support members. Response messages sent by theindividual support members will go out to the external customers as ifthe messages come from the generic email address. However, in thissolution all messages being sent to the generic email address will beforwarded to all team members ‘behind’ that generic email address. Onecannot direct different customer cases to different team members basedon the customers or topics being discussed in the email conversation.

As such, it may be advantageous, among other things, to allow aparticipant in a group conversation, whether it is one in email threador one on IM system, to add ‘hidden’ and ‘silent’ observers to the groupconversation. As such, the observers can see all the messages in thegroup conversation, just like other normal participants, however theobservers are “hidden” since other participants in the conversationcannot see them.

According to at least one implementation, the present embodiment mayallow a participant in an online group conversation, whether it is onein email thread or one on IM system, to add ‘hidden’ and ‘silent’observers to the group conversation. As such, the observers may then beable to see all the messages in the group conversation, just as othernormal participants. These observers are ‘hidden’ since otherparticipants in the conversation do not see them. The observers are also‘silent’ since they cannot participate directly in the conversation. Thesystem allows the observers to respond to messages in the online groupconversation, but only the participant who adds the observers to theconversation (i.e., the ‘enabler’) can see the responses. Upon receivingthe response messages from the observers, the enabler has the option topass the response messages to other participants in the groupconversation, as a regular message sent from the enabler. As a result,other participants may see these messages as messages written by theenabler, and the other participants will not know the observers areinvolved in the conversation.

Furthermore, in the cases that an observer sends a response message tothe enabler, before the enabler passes (i.e., publishes) the responsemessage to the group conversation, the enabler also has the option tomodify the message. In certain cases, the enabler may also want to turnon an option to allow the response message to pass to the online groupconversation directly, without any review or modification by theenabler. For example, if the enabler is on leave or is sick, he/she canadd a ‘backup’ person to the group conversation to respond to thediscussion messages on behalf of the enabler.

According to the present embodiment, a participant (i.e., the enabler)has the discretion to add one or more observers in a group discussion,where the observers can see all the messages in the discussion just asother normal participants see them without delay. As such, it is notnecessary for the enabler to send ‘updates’ of the group conversation byforwarding contents of the conversation to the observers. Additionally,the enabler can select which observers should be included in an onlinegroup conversation, based on the topics being discussed, instead ofhaving the enabler blindly forwarding all messages he/she receives tothe observers. Moreover, the observers can never participate in thegroup conversation directly, though they are allowed to respond bysending messages to the enabler. As such, the observers are protectedfrom exposing their identities and their involvements to otherparticipants in the conversation, while allowing them to provideinformation to support the enabler in the discussion.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, methodand program product to allow hidden and silent observers in an onlinegroup conversation. According to at least one implementation, aparticipant in an online group chat or conversation (i.e., the enabler)can add one or more people as observers to the group chat orconversation. Therefore, an enabler (i.e., a participant in an onlinegroup chat or conversation) may add a silent, hidden observer to anonline group chat or conversation. As such, the present embodiment mayadd the observer to the group chat, but mark them as observers who arelinked to the enabler (who is a normal participant in the same chat).Therefore, the observer may appear in the enabler's chat window so theenabler can see the observer in the group chat. However, otherparticipants in the group chat or conversation cannot see the observer.Furthermore the observer can see all the messages in the group chat, butthe other participants cannot see the observer (except the enabler).

When the observer sends a message to the group chat, the presentembodiment detects that the message comes from an observer. As such,rather than sending the message directly to the chat, the system maysend the message to the enabler. Therefore, the enabler will see themessage from a user interface (UI), where he/she may have the option tomodify the message and send it to the group chat as if it were a messagebeing sent by the enabler. However, according to at least oneimplementation, the enabler may have the option to discard the messagefrom the observer without forwarding it to the group chat. If theenabler opts to send the message to the group chat, the otherparticipants will see the message (or modified message) as if it weresent by the enabler.

Additionally, when the enabler adds an observer to a group chat, he/shecan also specify that the observer can send a message directly to thegroup chat on behalf of the enabler. As such, when the observer sends amessage to the group chat, the present embodiment may detect that themessage comes from an observer with authority to send messages on behalfof the enabler. The present embodiment will send the message directly tothe group chat, however the message will be treated as a message beingsent by the enabler.

According to the present embodiment, with respect to an email system, aparticipant in an email thread (i.e., the enabler) can add one or morepeople as observers to the email thread and therefore, the observer willreceive a forwarded copy of a message in the email thread. As such, theenabler's email server has to be able to support an observer feature(i.e., Email server X), but such support is not necessary for theobservers or other participants in the email thread to be using thespecial email server X.

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary networked computer environment 100 inaccordance with one embodiment is depicted. The networked computerenvironment 100 may include a computer 102 with a processor 104 and adata storage device 106 that is enabled to run a software program 108and a Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A. The networked computerenvironment 100 may also include a server 114 that is enabled to run aHidden and Silent Observer program 116B that may interact with adatabase 112 and a communication network 110. The networked computerenvironment 100 may include a plurality of computer 102 and servers 114,only one of which is shown. The communication network may includevarious types of communication networks, such as a wide area network(WAN), local area network (LAN), a telecommunication network, a wirelessnetwork, a public switched network and/or a satellite network. It shouldbe appreciated that FIG. 1 provides only an illustration of oneimplementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to theenvironments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Manymodifications to the depicted environments may be made based on designand implementation requirements.

The client computer 102 may communicate with the Hidden and SilentObserver program 116B running on server computer 114 via thecommunications network 110. The communications network 110 may includeconnections, such as wire, wireless communication links, or fiber opticcables. As will be discussed with reference to FIG. 5, server computer114 may include internal components 800 a and external components 900 a,respectively, and client computer 102 may include internal components800 b and external components 900 b, respectively. Client computer 102may be, for example, a mobile device, a telephone, a personal digitalassistant, a netbook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktopcomputer, or any type of computing devices capable of running a program,accessing a network, and accessing a database 112. According to variousimplementations of the present embodiment, the Hidden and SilentObserver program 116A, 116B may interact with a database 112 that may beembedded in various storage devices, such as, but not limited to acomputer/mobile device 102, a networked server 114, or a cloud storageservice.

As previously described, the client computer 102 may access the Hiddenand Silent Observer program 116B, running on server computer 114, viathe communications network 110. For example, a user using a clientcomputer 102 may use the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A, 116Bto allow hidden and silent observers in an online group conversation.The Hidden and Silent Observer method is explained in more detail belowwith respect to FIGS. 2-4.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an operational flowchart 200 illustrating thesteps carried out by a program to allow hidden and silent observers inan online group conversation according to at least one embodiment isdepicted. As previously described, the Hidden and Silent Observerprogram 116A, 116B (FIG. 1) may improve online group conversations byallowing a participant in an online group conversation to add hidden orsilent observers. Additionally, the Hidden and Silent Observer program116A, 116B (FIG. 1) may allow the observer to respond to messages in thegroup conversation, however, only the participant who adds the observerto the online conversation may see the observer's responses.Furthermore, upon receiving the response messages from the observer, theenabler may have the option to pass the response messages from theobserver to other participants in the group conversation as a regularmessage sent from the enabler.

Therefore with respect to FIG. 2 at 202, an enabler (i.e., a participantin an online group chat or conversation) may add a silent, hiddenobserver to an online group chat or conversation.

Then at 204, the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A, 116B (FIG. 1)will add the observer to the group chat or conversation and mark them asan observer and link the observer to the enabler. As such, the presentembodiment may add the observer to the group chat, but mark them asobservers who are linked to the enabler (who is a normal participant inthe same chat). Therefore, the observer may appear in the enabler's chatwindow so the enabler can see the observer in the group chat. However,other participants in the group chat or conversation cannot see theobserver. Furthermore, the observer can see all the messages in thegroup chat even though the other participants cannot see the observer(except the enabler).

Next at 206, the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A, 116B (FIG. 1)will detect when a message is sent from the observer. Therefore, whenthe observer sends a message to the group chat, the present embodimentmay detect that the message comes from an observer rather than from anormal participant of the group chat or conversation. According to thepresent embodiment, the ‘hidden’ observer can never reply directly to anemail or an instant messaging conversation. As such, the ‘hidden’observer is also ‘silent’. The only way an observer can participate inthe conversation is to reply to the participant who has enabled theobserver (i.e., the enabler). The other participants can never see theobserver's identity. Only the enabler is made aware of the observer'sidentity. As such, the present embodiment allows a ‘hidden’ participant(i.e., the observer) to observe email and instant messagingconversation, and participate in the conversation, while stillmaintaining anonymity.

Therefore, at 208, the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A, 116B(FIG. 1) will redirect the detected message from the observer to theenabler. As such, rather than sending the message directly to the otherchat participants of the chat or conversation, the present embodimentmay send the message to the enabler.

Next at 210, the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A, 116B (FIG. 1)will display the message from the observer to the enabler in a userinterface (UI). Then at 212, the Hidden and Silent Observer program116A, 116B (FIG. 1) will allow the enabler to modify or discard themessage from the observer. According to at least one implementation, theenabler will see the message from a user interface (UI), where theenabler may have the option to modify the message and send it to thegroup chat as if it were a message being sent by the enabler. However,according to at least one implementation, the enabler may also have theoption to discard the message from the observer without forwarding it tothe group chat.

Then at 214, it is determined whether the enabler discards the message.If at 214 it is determined that the enabler has opted to discard themessage, then the method will end. However, if at 214 it is determinedthat the enabler has opted to modify or keep the message, then themethod will continue to step 216 to send the original or modifiedmessage to the other participants in the group chat or conversation.Therefore, if the enabler opts to send the message to the group chat,the other participants will see the message (or modified message) as ifit were sent by the enabler.

It may be appreciated that FIG. 2 provides only an illustration of oneimplementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to howdifferent embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to thedepicted environments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements. For example, as previously described, the Hidden andSilent Observer program 116A, 116B (FIG. 1) may allow the enabler tospecify that the observer can send a message directly to the group chaton behalf of the enabler when the enabler adds an observer to a groupchat. As such, when the observer sends a message to the group chat, thepresent embodiment may detect that the message comes from an observerwith authority to send messages on behalf of the enabler. Therefore, thepresent embodiment will send the message directly to the group chat,however the message will be treated as a message being sent by theenabler. In this instance, the enabler may not have a chance to reviewor modify the message before it goes into the group chat.

Furthermore, the method described in FIG. 2 was illustrated with respectto an instant messaging system, however as will be described below withrespect to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the present embodiment may be utilized forany online communication system, such as an email communication system.The present embodiment may allow a ‘hidden’, ‘silent’ email participant(i.e., an observer) to keep receiving emails from an on-going emailconversation and also still be able to participate in the discussionwithout revealing the observer's identity to the other participant's(except for the enabler). Therefore, a ‘hidden’ observer can never replydirectly to the email (or instant messaging conversation as describedwith respect to FIG. 2) and therefore, the observer is also ‘silent’.According to at least one implementation, the only way an observer canparticipate in the conversation is to reply to the participant who hasenabled the observer (i.e., the enabler). As such, the reply may reachthe other participants of the conversation as if it is a reply from theenabler and the other participants can never see the observer'sidentity.

For example, as previously described, a participant in an email thread(i.e., the enabler) can add one or more people as observers to the emailthread and therefore, the observer will receive a forwarded copy of amessage in the email thread. As such, the enabler's email server has tobe able to support an observer feature (i.e., Email server X), but suchsupport is not necessary for the observers or other participants in theemail thread to be using the special email server X. According to atleast one implementation, the email messages in the same email threadcan be identified in various ways, such as by identifying the emailsubject and recipients, or by adding In-Reply-To header in the emailmessages. For example, if an enabler adds an observer to an emaildiscussion thread, then the email server X will make a record for theemail thread, and add the observer email addresses to it, being linkedto the enabler (who is a normal participant in the email thread).

Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary illustration 300 of an enabler 308adding an observer 310 to an email discussion thread in accordance withone embodiment is depicted. As such, according to at least oneimplementation, the Email server X 302 will make a record 304 (stored ina database 112 (FIG. 1)) for the email thread, and add the observer's310 email addresses 306 to it, being linked to the enabler 308 (who is anormal participant in the email thread).

When email server X 302 receives an email which is sent to the enabler308 and identified as a message in the email thread, it will forward acopy of the message to the observer's 310 email address 306. Thisforwarded copy of message contains an identifier 312 in an In-Reply-Toheader 314, which maps this forwarded copy to the message in the emailchain which content has been forwarded. An example of the stored contentof the forwarded message may be as follows:

From: oliver@abc.com To: chung@abc.com Cc: Bcc: Original Recipients:joe@abc.com, jay@abc.com Subject: This month sales figures Hi Guys,  Weneed to do a better job next month. - Oliver

As such, when an enabler 308 sends an email from the added observer 310,the Email server X 302 will insert conversation ID 312 and correspondinginformation into a database 112 (FIG. 1) and create 2 separate copies ofthe email, one to the participants 316, 318 and one to the observer 310,respectively. The x-observer header 314 will be removed from the messagethat is sent to the participants 316, 318. However, the Email server X302 will send a separate email to the observer 310 with the modifiedheaders 314 included.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary illustration of an observerreceiving a forwarded copy of the message from the email discussionthread in accordance with one embodiment is depicted. As such, accordingto at least one implementation, the observer 310 can see all messages inthe email thread that the enabler 308 receives. However, otherparticipants 316, 318 in the email thread do not know about this. Whenthe observer 310 replies, the message is forwarded, however, the reply402 will be sent only to the enabler 308 and processed by the emailserver X 302. Email server X 302 detects that it comes from an observer310 by the In-Reply-To header identifier 404. As such, the Email serverX 302 will look up the conversation ID in the In-Reply-To header 404 anddetermine that the observer 310 cannot answer on behalf of the enabler.The Email server X 302 will then send the reply message 402 to theenabler 308.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the enabler will see thereply message 402 displayed in a special UI, where he/she has the optionto modify the contents in the reply message and send it to participants316, 318 in the original email thread, just as though it were a replymessage sent by him/her. This is achievable by email server X 302, as itstores the content of the message forwarded to the observer 310, whichis exactly an email message within the email thread. Alternatively, theenabler 308 can discard the message from the observer 310 withoutforwarding it to the other participants 316, 318 included in the chat.The Email server X 302 understands that the email reply 402 has beenresubmitted by the enabler 308 after the enabler has reviewed it.Therefore, a copy of the reply message 402 is not sent back to theobserver. As such, only the participants 316, 318 are sent a copy of thereply message 402.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 of internal and external components ofcomputers depicted in FIG. 1 in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that FIG.5 provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not implyany limitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements.

Data processing system 800, 900 is representative of any electronicdevice capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Dataprocessing system 800, 900 may be representative of a smart phone, acomputer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may be represented bydata processing system 800, 900 include, but are not limited to,personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thickclients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, anddistributed cloud computing environments that include any of the abovesystems or devices.

User client computer 102 (FIG. 1) and network server 114 (FIG. 1) mayinclude respective sets of internal components 800 a,b and externalcomponents 900 a,b illustrated in FIG. 5. Each of the sets of internalcomponents 800 include one or more processors 820, one or morecomputer-readable RAMs 822 and one or more computer-readable ROMs 824 onone or more buses 826, and one or more operating systems 828 and one ormore computer-readable tangible storage devices 830. The one or moreoperating systems 828 and the Software Program 108 (FIG. 1) and theHidden and Silent Observer program 116A (FIG. 1) in client computer 102(FIG. 1) and the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116B (FIG. 1) innetwork server 114 (FIG. 1) are stored on one or more of the respectivecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 830 for execution by one ormore of the respective processors 820 via one or more of the respectiveRAMs 822 (which typically include cache memory). In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 5, each of the computer-readable tangible storagedevices 830 is a magnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive.Alternatively, each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices830 is a semiconductor storage device such as ROM 824, EPROM, flashmemory or any other computer-readable tangible storage device that canstore a computer program and digital information.

Each set of internal components 800 a,b also includes a R/W drive orinterface 832 to read from and write to one or more portablecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 936 such as a CD-ROM, DVD,memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk orsemiconductor storage device. A software program, such as the SoftwareProgram 108 (FIG. 1) and the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A,116B (FIG. 1) can be stored on one or more of the respective portablecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 936, read via the respectiveR/W drive or interface 832 and loaded into the respective hard drive830.

Each set of internal components 800 a,b also includes network adaptersor interfaces 836 such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless Wi-Fiinterface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired orwireless communication links. The Software Program 108 (FIG. 1) and theHidden and Silent Observer program 116A (FIG. 1) in client computer 102(FIG. 1) and the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116B (FIG. 1) innetwork server 114 (FIG. 1) can be downloaded to client computer 102(FIG. 1) and network server 114 (FIG. 1) from an external computer via anetwork (for example, the Internet, a local area network or other, widearea network) and respective network adapters or interfaces 836. Fromthe network adapters or interfaces 836, the Software Program 108(FIG. 1) and the Hidden and Silent Observer program 116A (FIG. 1) inclient computer 102 (FIG. 1) and the Hidden and Silent Observer program116B (FIG. 1) in network server 114 (FIG. 1) are loaded into therespective hard drive 830. The network may comprise copper wires,optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches,gateway computers and/or edge servers.

Each of the sets of external components 900 a,b can include a computerdisplay monitor 920, a keyboard 930, and a computer mouse 934. Externalcomponents 900 a,b can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards,touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each ofthe sets of internal components 800 a,b also includes device drivers 840to interface to computer display monitor 920, keyboard 930 and computermouse 934. The device drivers 840, R/W drive or interface 832 andnetwork adapter or interface 836 comprise hardware and software (storedin storage device 830 and/or ROM 824).

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based email). Theconsumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructureincluding network, servers, operating systems, storage, or evenindividual application capabilities, with the possible exception oflimited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrative cloud computing environment 600 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 600 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 100 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 600A, desktop computer 600B, laptop computer600C, and/or automobile computer system 600N may communicate. Nodes 100may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown)physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private,Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or acombination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 600 tooffer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which acloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 600A-Nshown in FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and that computingnodes 100 and cloud computing environment 600 can communicate with anytype of computerized device over any type of network and/or networkaddressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 7, a set of functional abstraction layers 700provided by cloud computing environment 600 (FIG. 6) is shown. It shouldbe understood in advance that the components, layers, and functionsshown in FIG. 7 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments ofthe invention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layersand corresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 7010 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers; storagedevices; networks and networking components. In some embodiments,software components include network application server software.

Virtualization layer 7012 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers;virtual storage; virtual networks, including virtual private networks;virtual applications and operating systems; and virtual clients.

In one example, management layer 7014 may provide the functionsdescribed below. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricingprovide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management providescloud computing resource allocation and management such that requiredservice levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning andfulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloudcomputing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated inaccordance with an SLA. A Hidden and Silent Observer program may allowhidden and silent observers in an online group conversation.

Workloads layer 7016 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtualclassroom education delivery; data analytics processing; and transactionprocessing.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system to enable a participant withina plurality of participants in an online group conversation to add atleast one additional participant as an observer to the online groupconversation, the computer system comprising: one or more processors,one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readabletangible storage devices, and program instructions stored on at leastone of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one ofthe one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories,wherein the computer system is capable of performing a methodcomprising: receiving a request to add the observer to the online groupconversation; adding the observer to the online group conversation basedon the received request; detecting a message being sent from the addedobserver; redirecting the detected message to the enabled participant,wherein redirecting the detected message to the enabled participantcomprises creating an online forwarded copy of the redirected detectedmessage and adding an identifier as a conversation ID to the onlineforwarded copy, wherein the added identifier maps the online forwardedcopy in an online database as the online forwarded copy to theredirected detected message in an original email chain associated withthe redirected detected message along with the conversation ID and aplurality of corresponding information associated with the redirecteddetected message; displaying the redirected message in a user interface(UI) to the enabled participant; detecting a modification or a deletionof the displayed redirected message by the enabled participant; sendingthe displayed redirected message from the enabled participant to theplurality of participants, wherein the sent message is in an originalformat or a modified format and does not include the conversation ID;and sending a copy of the displayed redirected message from the enabledparticipant to the added observer, wherein the sent copy of thedisplayed redirected message includes the conversation ID.
 2. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the online group conversation isassociated with an online instant messaging communication system or anonline email communication system.
 3. The computer system of claim 1,wherein the enabled participant can allow a response message to pass tothe plurality of participants directly, without a review or amodification by the enabled participant.
 4. The computer system of claim3, wherein an identity associated with the observer is revealed only tothe enabled participant.
 5. The computer system of claim 3, wherein theobserver is silent and can only respond to the enabled participant. 6.The computer system of claim 1, wherein the observer can see a pluralityof messages associated with the on-line group conversation.
 7. Thecomputer system of claim 3, wherein the enabled participant can decideif the observer should be added to the online group conversation basedon a plurality of topics associated with the online group conversation.8. A computer program product to enable a participant within a pluralityof participants in an online group conversation to add at least oneadditional participant as an observer to the online group conversation,the computer program product comprising: one or more computer-readablestorage devices and program instructions stored on at least one of theone or more tangible storage devices, the program instructionsexecutable by a processor, the program instructions comprising: programinstructions to receive a request to add the observer to the onlinegroup conversation; program instructions to add the observer to theonline group conversation based on the received request; programinstructions to detect a message being sent from the added observer;program instructions to redirect the detected message to the enabledparticipant, wherein redirecting the detected message to the enabledparticipant comprises creating an online forwarded copy of theredirected detected message and adding an identifier as a conversationID to the online forwarded copy, wherein the added identifier maps theonline forwarded copy in an online database as the online forwarded copyto the redirected detected message in an original email chain associatedwith the redirected detected message along with the conversation ID anda plurality of corresponding information associated with the redirecteddetected message; program instructions to display the redirected messagein a user interface (UI) to the enabled participant; programinstructions to detect a modification or a deletion of the displayedredirected message by the enabled participant; program instructions tosend the displayed redirected message from the enabled participant tothe plurality of participants, wherein the sent message is in anoriginal format or a modified format and does not include theconversation ID; and program instructions to send a copy of thedisplayed redirected message from the enabled participant to the addedobserver, wherein the sent copy of the displayed redirected messageincludes the conversation ID.
 9. The computer program product of claim8, wherein the online group conversation is associated with an onlineinstant messaging communication system or an online email communicationsystem.
 10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the enabledparticipant can allow a response message to pass to the plurality ofparticipants directly, without a review or a modification by the enabledparticipant.
 11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein anidentity associated with the observer is revealed only to the enabledparticipant.
 12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein theobserver is silent and can only respond to the enabled participant. 13.The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the observer can see aplurality of messages associated with the on-line group conversation.